The average age at which Norwegians stopped working was 66.4 years last year, 0.3 years higher than in 2023, new figures from the Norwegian national insurance scheme (Nav) have revealed.

The average retirement age indicates when people employed at age 50 leave the workforce completely.

The retirement age is now 0.5 years higher than in 2019, and it has thus increased faster than the growth in life expectancy over the past five years.

The retirement age is still significantly higher for men (67 years) than for women (65.7 years). The increase since 2019 has also been greater for men, by 0.6 years, than for women, by 0.4 years.

Meanwhile, the two counties with the largest increase in retirement age since 2019 were Finnmark and Nordland, with a growth of 0.9 years.

In Troms, the retirement age is also increasing more than the national average by 0.7 years.

According to Nav department director, Ole Christian Lien, the retirement age has risen sharply after a temporary decline during the coronavirus pandemic.

He added that this was a “very positive trend,” as it would be crucial to meeting future labour needs.

Lien suggested the increase may be related to challenges faced by businesses, particularly in Northern Norway, in obtaining qualified labour.

“Another important reason for the increase is pension rules that make it worthwhile to work," he continued, explaining that the lifelong contractual pension (AFP) scheme in the public sector had been changed from an early retirement scheme that requires you to quit your job or step down to a lifelong pension that can be freely combined with work and that becomes higher the longer you wait to withdraw.

“Preliminary figures in 2025 showed that more people than before are working beyond 62 due to the new rules.

"We believe this could lead to a significant increase in the retirement age for several years to come," added Lien.

---